Methods and Systems for Tracking Carts and Retail Products in a Shopping Space

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful for a retail facility to maintain information regarding product location, in part, from correlating a shopper&#39;s cart path and their purchased items with those of other shoppers. In some approaches, the methods and apparatuses may determine a cart path for a particular shopping cart by analyzing aisle markers captured by an image capturing device in the shopping cart, associate that cart path with the purchased items from that shopping cart, and compare the associated cart path and purchased items with similar information from other customers. In some examples, by comparing the associated cart paths and purchased items form a plurality of customers, an aisle location of one of the retail items is identified and the database of aisle locations and retail items may be updated accordingly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/332,700, filed May 6, 2016, which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to monitoring in-store activity andretail items.

BACKGROUND

As a convenience to shoppers, many retail facilities offer shoppingcarts that customers can use while they are shopping within thefacility. These shopping carts generally have a basket portion, ahandle, and wheels such that the shopping carts can easily be movedaround a retail shopping facility as users fill the shopping cart withvarious items they intend to purchase. Further, modern retailenvironments often look for ways to further improve the customerexperience, such as by providing convenient, ready access to retailproducts or items. To that end, a retail facility may find itadvantageous to make locating products of interest easier for customers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Disclosed herein are embodiments of systems, apparatuses and methodspertaining to maintaining a database of item locations, in part, fromcart path information obtained from cameras in shopping carts. Thisdescription includes drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary shopping system inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a shopping space in accordancewith several embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with severalembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary item location system in accordance withseveral embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system for use in implementing systems,apparatuses, devices, methods, techniques and the like in tracking cartsand products in a shopping space in accordance with some embodiments.

Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity andhave not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensionsand/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures maybe exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improveunderstanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also,common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in acommercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order tofacilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of thepresent invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described ordepicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in theart will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence isnot actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have theordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressionsby persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above exceptwhere different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally speaking, pursuant to various embodiments, systems,apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to determine where acustomer visited within a retail facility, a customer's pathway througha retail facility, and/or the aisle location of various retail itemswithin the retail facility. Accordingly, the systems, apparatuses andmethods permit maintenance of a database of item locations, in part,from cart path information obtained from cameras in shopping carts and alist of purchased items obtained from point of sale terminals orregisters. By one approach, such an item location system includes adatabase of retail items within a retail facility and an aisle locationassociated with some of the retail items, the retail facility havingshopping aisles with aisle markers disposed therein, a plurality ofshopping carts with a camera or image capturing device configured torecord the aisle markers by which the shopping cart travels, and acontrol circuit coupled to the database and a point of sale terminal inthe retail facility or location. The control circuit configured todetect a cart path for a particular one of the plurality of shoppingcarts by receiving the recorded aisle markers from the particularshopping cart and a list of purchased items for that cart from the pointof sale terminal, associating the cart path with the purchased items,and comparing the associated cart path and list of purchased items fromthe particular shopping cart with similar information from othercustomers. For example, the control circuit can compare associated cartpaths and purchased items of a plurality of customers. In oneillustrative approach, the control circuit may further identify aparticular aisle location of one of the plurality of retail items basedon overlap between the associated cart path and list of purchased itemsand other customer cart paths and purchased items and updated thedatabase to include the particular aisle location identified for one ofthe retail items.

As used herein, an aisle location is generally one or more physicallocations within a retail facility or location where a particular retailitem can be found. In some embodiments, the database includes aplurality of aisle locations for some retail items. For example, thebatteries may be located near the electronics department, in a sectionof the toy aisle, and near home appliances, among other locations. Inthis example, batteries may have three aisle locations stored in thedatabase of aisle locations and retail products. By one approach, adatabase may include a primary aisle location and additional orsupplemental aisle location(s). Further, if the system or methoddescribed herein identifies an aisle location for a retail product inthe database for which no other aisle location information has beenprovided, the identified aisle location may be used as a primary aislelocation. Alternatively, if other aisle locations are saved within thedatabase, an identified aisle location may be added to the database asan additional location, if one or more other aisle locations are storedin the database.

In one embodiment, the shopping system also may include an associateelectronic device that is in communication with the control circuit anddatabase and may display the aisle location(s) of retail items whenqueried. Further, the associate electronic device may receiveinformation from an associate and update the database of aisle locationsaccordingly. For example, the associate electronic device may beemployed to add a retail item into the database, add an aisle locationof one of the plurality of retail items in the database, and update atleast one of the retail items or aisle locations associated therewith.

In addition to aisle locations, the cart path information and list ofpurchased items can be analyzed to determine from where a particularpurchased item was retrieved. By analyzing the associated cart path andlist of purchased items, the control circuit may identify a likelyretrieval location for a purchased item. As used herein, a purchaseditem will have only one retrieval location from which that particularpurchased item was retrieved, but a retail item may have a plurality ofaisle locations where such retail items are located within the retailfacility. For example, while AA batteries may be found in aisles 2, 27,29, and 30, the AA batteries in a particular shopper's cart will havecome from only one of those locations.

In one approach, the system may determine a low shelf supply based uponthe receipt of a number of identical retrieval locations. Further, byone approach, a store associate may be sent a notification regarding thelow shelf supply, such as through the associate electronic device.

In one exemplary embodiment, the shopping carts have an image capturingdevices mounted thereto. By one approach, the image capturing device isa camera configured to capture or record pictures or video images, andit may be mounted to a handle (or other area) of the shopping cart. Tothat end, U.S. Patent Application No. 62/348,488, filed Jun. 10, 2016 isincorporated herein in its entirety.

In one approach, the shopping aisles and displays include aisle markersthat identify the aisle in which the markers are disposed. Furthermore,in one configuration, the aisle markers are disposed at predeterminedintervals along the shopping aisles. For example, an image or aislemarker may be disposed every eight feet, every four feet, or even everytwo feet, among other configurations.

In operation, the control circuit may estimate a continuous cart pathbased on the aisle markers recorded by the image capturing device andthe order of recordation thereof. In another embodiment, the systemestimates a time spent at a particular location along the continuouspath within the retail facility based on the time lapse betweenrecordation of the aisle markers, a timestamp on the captured images,and/or a recurrence of the same aisle markers.

In one illustrative embodiment, when the shopping cart is brought to thepoint of sale terminal for checkout, the recorded images of the aislemarkers or a listing of the aisle markers themselves are communicated ortransferred from the image capturing device and/or a memory associatedtherewith to the control circuit, point of sale terminal, or anotherdevice in communication therewith. After communicating or transferringthe images or information regarding the aisles markers, the imagecapturing device or memory associated therewith can be cleared such thatthe shopping cart may be used by another shopper. By one approach, theimage capturing device is configured to clear the recorded aisle markersafter the control circuit has detected the cart path of the particularshopping cart from the recorded images.

In one embodiment, the image capturing device primarily captures imagesof the aisle markers. In another embodiment, the image capturing devicemay record images of the aisle marker and the adjacent shelf space andproducts thereon.

In another illustrative embodiment, a retail location or facility isable to maintain information regarding product location, in part, withinformation gathered from correlating a shopper's cart path and theirpurchased items with those of other shoppers according to a methoddescribed herein. By one approach, the method includes, for example,maintaining a database of aisle locations associated with retail items,capturing pathway images of aisle markers disposed within the shoppingaisles via an image detection device mounted in a shopping cart,receiving pathway images from the shopping cart at a point of saleterminal, receiving a list of purchased items from the point of saleterminal and associating the purchased items with the pathway images,identifying a particular aisle location of one of the purchased retailitems by comparing the associated list of purchased retail items andpathway images with other customer pathways and purchased itemsassociated therewith, and updating the database accordingly.

By one approach, updating the database includes adding a particularaisle location as an additional aisle location or a primary aislelocation if no other aisle location information is stored within thedatabase.

In one embodiment, when a customer is interested in where a particularretail item is shelved, a store associate may query the database, whichmay notify the associate of one or more aisle locations of the item ofinterest.

In addition to aisle locations, the method also may include extracting aretrieval location of at least one of the purchased items by analyzingthe pathway image(s) and the associated purchased retail item(s). Inthis manner, a low shelf supply may be determined based on theextraction of identical retrieval locations a predetermined number oftimes within a certain amount of time. This information may be providedto a store associate who can restock the display shelves.

In addition to providing information about the stock levels of retailproducts, a retail location may be of interest when analyzing consumerbehaviors within the retail facility. Thus, a store may be interested inthe aisles visited by a customer and the time spent at various aislelocations. Thus, the method also may include estimating a continuouscart path based upon the aisle markers recorded by the image capturingdevice and the time lapse between recordation of the aisle markers, therepeated capturing of a particular aisle marker, or timestamps of theimages captured.

By having an updated database of aisle locations associated with theretail items, a store associate can direct consumers to the locations ofparticular retail items upon request. Further, by knowing where thepurchased items are being retrieved from, the store associates are ableto replenish the shelves from which the items were retrieved. Further,if a retail item is not frequently retrieved from a particular aislelocation (such that it does not show up in many different cartpathways), then a store associate may remove that retail item from thatshelf location such that the shelf space may be repurposed to displaydifferent retail items.

In yet another configuration, an aisle location associated with a retailitem may be removed from the database if it is only highly infrequentlyfound in pathway images correlating to the purchased retail items. Forexample, retail items can be incorrectly shelved or a customer maydecide they no longer wish to purchase an item and may merely remove theitem from their cart and place it on a nearby shelf without regard forwhere the item properly belongs. Thus, when comparing other customerpathways and purchased items, the control circuit may be able todetermine or highlight outliers and remove them from the database. Inone illustrative approach, the control circuit may flag an aislelocation for further consideration by an associate or may remove it fromthe database of aisle locations. In one illustrative embodiment, thecontrol circuit may include a tentative aisle location in the database,but may flag this as suspect or may give it a low degree of certainty.

As used herein, the shopping carts may include baskets with wheels,flatbed carts, bins, and handheld baskets, among others that are movedaround a retail facility or location. Further, the retail facility maybe any type of shopping facility or location in which products aredisplayed, for sale, and/or distributed at numerous points around thefacility such that the customer travels through the space to retrievedesired products. Further, the facility may be any of a number of sizesor formats and may include products from one or more merchants. Forexample, a facility may be a single store operated by one merchant ormay be a collection of stores covering multiple merchants such as amall.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary shoppingor item location system 100, according to some embodiments, whichfacilitates maintaining a database of item locations, in part, from cartpath information obtained from cameras in shopping carts and lists ofpurchased items obtained from point of sale terminals or registerswithin the retail facility. The item location system 100 includes adatabase 110 of a plurality of retail items disposed within a retailfacility and an aisle location associated with some of the retail items.The database 110 may be queried by an associate electronic device 104for information on an aisle location for a particular retail product. Inaddition, the information in database 110 may be compared withinformation from the point of sale terminal(s) 102 and the cart pathwayinformation provided to the control circuit or central computer 106 andpossibly a cart path evaluation circuit 112 either directly orindirectly, such as through a network 108. In some configurations, thenetwork 108 also may provide database 110 and central computer 106information to a headquarters location 401 (FIG. 4) that maintainsinformation on aisle location information for several retail facilitiesand a planogram that provides an intended or master floor plan and/oraisle location destinations.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the point of sale terminal(s) 102, theassociate electronic device(s) 104, central computer 106, thedatabase(s) 110, and the cart path evaluation circuit 112, if present,may be communicatively coupled, either directly or indirectly, such asover one or more distributed communication networks 108, which mayinclude, for example, LAN, WAN, Internet, cellular, Wi-Fi, and othersuch communication networks or combinations of two or more of suchnetworks.

By one approach, a retail location may have shelves 202 (see FIG. 2)with aisle markers 208 disposed therein. As used herein, aisles mayinclude both the passageway between shelves and the passageway betweenshelves and other structures. By one approach, the aisle markers 208 aredisposed only on one side of the aisle. By another approach, the aislemarkers 208 are disposed on each side of an aisle. The aisle markers maybe disposed in an alternating relationship down the aisle, oralternatively, the aisle markers may be disposed continually down theaisle directly across from one another. In addition, an aisle end cap oraisle end display may have aisle markers 208 disposed thereon.

As used herein, an aisle marker may be anything that the image capturingdevice can visually capture, such as, for example, a barcode, a QR code,an alphanumeric image, among others. The aisle markers 208 may bedisposed at any portion of an aisle or shelf. In one illustrativeapproach, the aisle markers are disposed at the base of an aisle on anaisle shelf, base, footing, or another structure associated with theaisle or shelf. In another illustrative approach, the aisle markers areon the floor adjacent the bottom of the aisle shelf. In yet anotherembodiment, the aisle markers are disposed on the aisle shelves at aheight approximately the same as the height of the cart handle or otherportion of the cart to which the image capturing device is mounted. Forexample, if the aisle markers are generally disposed at the base of anaisle shelf, the image capturing device may be mounted at a lowerportion of the cart. In one exemplary embodiment, the image capturingdevice is focused or directed toward the location of the aisle markers208 along the aisles. For example, if the aisle markers 208 aregenerally disposed along the base of the aisle near or adjacent thefacility floor, the image capturing device, if mounted on the carthandle, will be directed downward such that the image capturing devicecaptures images of the aisle markers 208.

As the cart 204 is advanced through the retail facility, the camera orimage capturing device mounted thereon captures the aisle markers 208 bywhich the cart 204 passes. In addition, the image capturing device alsomay capture the order by which the cart 204 advanced by the aislemarkers. In one illustrative approach, the image capturing device mayobtain a timestamp or other identifying information that allows thecontrol circuit to determine the progression of the cart and the amountof time spent at various locations.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cart 204 may advance through a portion of aretail facility 200 via cart path 206, and the central computer 106 maydetermine the path taken by the shopping cart 204 by analyzing the aislemarkers 208 recorded by the image capturing device mounted on theshopping cart 204. Further, as discussed below, the images recorded ofthe aisle markers may be transferred to the central computer 106 at thepoint of sale terminal 102, such as when the shopper is paying for theretail items selected while shopping in the retail facility.

In one exemplary embodiment, a shopper has their purchases scanned andpays for their purchases at a point of sale terminal 102 within theretail facility. At the point of sale terminal 102, possibly during thetransactions between the retail facility and the shopper, the imagestaken by the image capturing device are transferred to a device that mayprovide the images to the central computer 106, either directly orindirectly, such as through a network 108. Furthermore, the point ofsale terminal 102 provides an account of the purchased items, such as alist, record, catalog, or index of purchased items to the centralcomputer 106.

To evaluate the information obtained from the shopping cart (includingthe recorded aisle markers) and the retail items purchased at the pointof sale terminal 102, the point of sale terminal 102, central computer106, or the cart path evaluation circuit 112 (which may be provided thecaptured aisle marker images and the list of purchased items) or similardevice may be configured to associate the purchased items with the aislemarkers obtained and the cart path derived therefrom. Further, thecentral computer 106 and/or the cart path evaluation circuit 112 maydetect a cart path of a particular shopping cart based on the recordedaisle markers for the particular shopping cart. Then, this cart path(possibly along with the aisle markers themselves) and the purchaseditems, may be correlated or associated with one another.

As used herein, the cart path may include a list of the aisle markersrecorded by an image capturing device, and a continuous cart path mayfurther include the order of recorded aisle markers and possibly timespent at a particular aisle maker, which may be obtained, for example,by a timestamp on the aisle marker or a repeated capture of a particularaisle marker.

By one approach, the central computer 106 and/or the cart pathevaluation circuit 112 subsequently compare the cart path and associatedretail items with similar information (cart paths and associated retailitems) from other customers. In this manner, the central computer 106and/or the cart path evaluation circuit 112 may identify a particularlocation of one of the retail items based upon overlap between theassociated cart path and purchased retail items with similar informationfrom other customers and possibly the information in the database ofretail items or another database, such as, for example, a database ofcart paths and associated retail items.

By one approach, a database of cart paths and associated retail items ismaintained and each additional data point (cart path and associatedretail items) is evaluated in comparison with the database of cart pathsand associated retail items. For example, if a customer buys AAbatteries, toilet paper, and a birthday card and the customer's cartrecorded images of aisle markers in aisles 2, 12, and 33, thisinformation can be compared with other customer information and/or witha database of cart paths and associated retail items. If this particularcustomer is compared with another customer who purchased large athleticsocks, potato chips, printer ink, and AA batteries and this customer'scart recorded images of aisle markers in aisles 2, 15, 16, and 17, bothof these customers appear to have obtained batteries from aisle 2. Ifthe database of retail items does not previous indicate that AAbatteries are located in aisle 2, the database may be updated toindicate such information. By one approach, if the database of retailitems does not include an aisle location, the database may be updated toindicate that this location is a primary or additional aisle location ifother aisle locations are stored within the database. The database alsomay be updated to note the recent purchase activity as discussed below.

Depending on the number of purchased items and aisle markers, thecentral computer 106 and/or the cart path evaluation circuit 112 may beable to determine a likely aisle location, but may not be able todefinitively confirm such an aisle location. In this circumstance, thedatabase may be updated to indicate a likely aisle location for aparticular retail item. In one illustrative approach, a level ofconfidence may be assigned to a likely aisle location.

In the previous example, in addition to determining or confirming thataisle 2 has shelf space devoted to AA batteries, the aisle 2 location isthe retrieval location of those purchased AA batteries or the locationfrom which the particular AA batteries purchased by these two customerswere retrieved. As mentioned above, a purchased retail item typicallyhas only one retrieval location, but a retail item may have a pluralityof aisle locations where those retail items are located or shelvedwithin the retail facility. Thus, while AA batteries may be found inaisles 2, 27, 29, and 30, the AA batteries found in the two examplecarts discussed and compared were both obtained from aisle 2. Thus,these AA batteries have a retrieval location of aisle 2. In oneillustrative approach, a store associate may use this information toknow when a shelf location is running low on a particular retail itemand may require restocking. In short, in addition to determining anaisle location of retail items, the central computer 106 and/or the cartpath evaluation circuit 112 may also determine a retrieval location ofpurchased items. This information may then be communicated to a storeassociate, such as, for example, via the associate electronic device 104in communication with the network 108.

As used herein, the image capturing device may include a camera or otherimage recorder mounted to a handle or other structure of a shoppingcart. By one approach, the camera is configure to record pictures orvideo images of aisle markers. In another illustrative embodiment, theimage capturing device is configured to take pictures or images of shelfspace and products on the shelf during customer use. This may be inaddition to recording the aisle markers.

In one illustrative approach, the recorded aisle markers or images arecommunicated or transferred to the point of sale terminal or anotherdevice proximate the point of sale terminal when the customer is payingfor the retail items collected throughout the retail facility. By oneapproach, the shopping cart has wireless transmission capabilities thatpermit a quick transfer to the central computer 106. Further, once theimages or aisle markers are transferred, the memory of the images on theshopping cart can be cleared such that a new shopper can begin using theshopping cart, which will record the new user's cart path and aislemarkers.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a process 300 for locating and monitoring itemswithin a retail facility according to some embodiments discussed hereinis illustrated. The method 300 includes, for example, maintaining 302 adatabase of aisle locations associated with retail items and capturing304 pathway images of aisle markers disposed within shopping aisles.

By one approach, pathway images of aisle markers are received 306 fromthe shopping cart at the point of sale terminal. The process 300 furtherincludes receiving 308 a list of purchased retail items from the pointof sale terminal and associating the list of purchased retail items withpathway images.

In step 310, the process 300 identifies a particular aisle location of apurchased retail item by comparing the associated list of purchasedretail items and pathway images with other customer pathways andpurchased items associated therewith. As discussed above, by oneapproach, this comparison may be made by comparing a customer data pointwith a database of other customer pathway images and purchased items.

Further, after identifying 310 an aisle location, the process 300 mayupdate 312 the database of aisle locations according to the particularaisle location identified by comparing the purchased retail item andpathway images with similar information from other customers. Byupdating 312 the database of aisle locations, the database may beupdated to include a primary or additional aisle location if an aislelocation is already present in the database. In another embodiment,updating 312 the database may include removing a stored aisle locationfrom the database if the store aisle location is very infrequently foundin the pathway images and purchased items. For example, if a retailproduct is picked up from a location where it is not typically shelved(such as when a customer removes an item from their cart but does notre-shelve the item from where it was initially retrieved), the databasemay have been updated with inaccurate information and these inaccurateaisle locations may be removed from the database based on the frequencyof the aisle or retrieval locations received at the point of saleterminals.

In step 314, the process 300 may further include notifying an associateof one or more aisle locations for a particular retail item. This may befacilitated via an associate electronic device 104 that may permit anassociate to query one or more databases 110 of retail items. Theassociate electronic devices 104 also may permit a store associate tomanually input an aisle location for a retail item. For example, if astore associate sets up a seasonal display that included outdoor holidaylights and extension cords, the store associate may update the database110 to indicate that the holiday lights are extension cords are nowfound in the seasonal display.

In one exemplary approach, the method 300 further includes extracting316 a specific retrieval location of at least one of the purchased itemsby analyzing the associated purchased retail items and pathway images.Furthermore, the method 300 also may include determining 318 a low shelfsupply based on that information. For example, a low shelf supply may bedetermined based on the repeated extraction of the same retrievallocation for a particular item. In this manner, if an identicalretrieval location for a particular retail item is obtained or extracteda predetermined number of times, the central computer 106 may notify astore associate about the issue such that it can be addressed byrestocking the retail item.

In step 320, the method also may include estimating a continuous cartpath based upon the aisle markers recorded by the image capturing deviceand the time lapse between recordation of the aisle markers, repeatedlycapturing an aisle marker, or a timestamp on the images captured. Thismay be of particular interest when creating or modifying a store layoutor planogram. For example, if a particular display is attracting asignificant amount of interest, the store may decide to place thisdisplay in an area that will drive traffic through other aisles ofpotential interest.

FIG. 4 illustrates one exemplary item location system 400 with an itemlocation server 406 (that may analyze and store information about retailproducts within the retail facility) and is in communication with apoint of sale terminal 402 and/or shopping carts 404. As suggestedabove, store information about locations of retail products located in astore's item location server 406 may be communicated to a centralplanner or headquarters 401, which also may be in communication withother similar such store servers 406 from other retail locations. By oneapproach, the headquarters 401 that coordinates with several retailfacilities may have a database 420 of aisle locations within differentretail locations and also a planogram 422 of where the headquarters 401intends the retail items to be shelved in the various retail facilities.In this manner, the headquarters 401 can analyze the actual shelflocation of retail items found in the database 420 and compare it withthe planogram 422 to determine how accurately the associates at a givenstore or retail facility are organizing the facility.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the item location server 406 may include adatabase of aisle locations 410, a database of information received fromthe point of sale terminals 414, a database of pathway information 416,and a database of image information 418, which may be of particularinterest if the image capturing devices records or takes images of shelfspace and product placement on the shelves. Though item location server406 is illustrated as having these databases within the item locationserver 406, these databases also may be stored outside of the server 406and merely in communication with server 406.

In addition to a variety of databases, the item location server 406 alsomay provide image analysis 424, pathway and purchased retail itemassociation 426, pathway determination 428, and/or comparison ofdifferent customer's associated pathways and purchased retail items 430.Though item location server 406 is illustrated as providing thesecapabilities, these also may be provided by other servers or devices incommunication with the item location server 406.

The methods, techniques, systems, devices, services, servers, sourcesand the like described herein may be utilized, implemented and/or run onmany different types of devices and/or systems. Referring to FIG. 5,there is illustrated a system 500 that may be used for any suchimplementations, in accordance with some embodiments. One or morecomponents of the system 500 may be used to implement any system,apparatus or device mentioned above or below, or parts of such systems,apparatuses or devices, such as for example any of the above or belowmentioned item location system 100, central computer system 106, pointof sale terminal(s) 102, associate electronic device(s) 104, cart pathevaluation circuit 112, database 110, item location system 400, partsthereof, and the like. However, the use of the system 500 or any portionthereof is certainly not required.

By way of example, the system 500 may include one or more controlcircuits 502, memory 504, and input/output (I/O) interfaces and/ordevices 506. Some embodiments further include one or more userinterfaces 508. The control circuit 502 typically comprises one or moreprocessors and/or microprocessors. The memory 504 stores the operationalcode or set of instructions that is executed by the control circuit 502and/or processor to implement the functionality of the item locationsystem 100, central computer system 106, point of sale terminal(s) 102,associate electronic device(s) 104, cart path evaluation circuit 112,database 110, the item location system 400, parts thereof, and the like.In some embodiments, the memory 504 may also store some or all ofparticular data that may be needed to maintain a database of aislelocations associated with retail items located within a retail facility,capture pathway images of aisle markers disposed within shopping aisles,receive the pathway images from the shopping cart at a point of saleterminal, receive a list of purchased retail items from the point ofsale terminal and associating the list of purchased retail items withpathway images, identify a particular aisle location of one of thepurchased retail items by comparing the associated list of purchasedretail items and pathway images with similar information from othercustomers, and/or update the database accordingly.

It is understood that the control circuit 502 and/or processor may beimplemented as one or more processor devices as are well known in theart. Similarly, the memory 504 may be implemented as one or more memorydevices as are well known in the art, such as one or more processorreadable and/or computer readable media and can include volatile and/ornonvolatile media, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory and/or othermemory technology. Further, the memory 504 is shown as internal to thesystem 500; however, the memory 504 can be internal, external or acombination of internal and external memory. Additionally, the systemtypically includes a power supply (not shown), which may berechargeable, and/or it may receive power from an external source. WhileFIG. 5 illustrates the various components being coupled together via abus, it is understood that the various components may actually becoupled to the control circuit 502 and/or one or more other componentsdirectly.

Generally, the control circuit 502 and/or electronic components of thesystem 500 can comprise fixed-purpose hard-wired platforms or cancomprise a partially or wholly programmable platform. Thesearchitectural options are well known and understood in the art andrequire no further description here. The system and/or control circuit502 can be configured (for example, by using corresponding programmingas will be well understood by those skilled in the art) to carry out oneor more of the steps, actions, and/or functions described herein. Insome implementations, the control circuit 502 and the memory 504 may beintegrated together, such as in a microcontroller, applicationspecification integrated circuit, field programmable gate array or othersuch device, or may be separate devices coupled together.

The I/O interface 506 allows wired and/or wireless communicationcoupling of the system 500 to external components and/or or systems.Typically, the I/O interface 506 provides wired and/or wirelesscommunication (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, RF, and/or other suchwireless communication), and may include any known wired and/or wirelessinterfacing device, circuit and/or connecting device, such as but notlimited to one or more transmitter, receiver, transceiver, etc.

The user interface 508 may be used for user input and/or output display.For example, the user interface 508 may include any known input devices,such one or more buttons, knobs, selectors, switches, keys, touch inputsurfaces, audio input, and/or displays, etc. Additionally, the userinterface 508 include one or more output display devices, such aslights, visual indicators, display screens, etc. to convey informationto a user, such as but not limited to customer information, shoppinglists, available items, requested items, product orders, productinformation, communication information (e.g., text messages, emails,etc.), status information, notifications, errors, conditions, and/orother such information. Similarly, the user interface 508 in someembodiments may include audio systems that can receive audio commands orrequests verbally issued by a user, and/or output audio content, alertsand the like.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of othermodifications, alterations, and combinations can also be made withrespect to the above described embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shopping system comprising: a database of a plurality of retail items disposed within a retail location and an aisle location associated with some of the plurality retail items; a plurality of shopping aisles within the retail location and aisle markers disposed within at least several of the plurality of shopping aisles; a plurality of shopping carts, each of the plurality of shopping carts having an image capturing device attached thereto, the image capturing device configured to record the aisle markers by which the shopping cart travels during customer use; and a control circuit coupled to the database and at least one point of sale terminal in the retail location, the control circuit configured to: detect a cart path for a particular one of the plurality of shopping carts by receiving the recorded aisle markers from the particular shopping cart; receive, from the point of sale terminal, a list of purchased items from the particular shopping cart and associate the list of purchased items from the particular shopping cart with the cart path for the particular shopping cart; compare the associated cart path and list of purchased items from the particular shopping cart with other customer cart paths and purchased items associated therewith; identify a particular aisle location of one of the plurality of retail items based on overlap between the associated cart path and list of purchased items and other customer cart paths and purchased items associated therewith; and update the database of the plurality of retail items to include the particular aisle location identified for the one of the plurality of retail items.
 2. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the database includes a plurality of aisle locations for some of the retail items.
 3. The shopping system of claim 2 wherein the control circuit is further configured to update the database to include the particular aisle location identified as an additional aisle location or a primary aisle location if no other aisle location is stored within the database.
 4. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to analyze the associated cart path and list of purchased items for the particular shopping cart and determine a retrieval location for at least one of the purchased items.
 5. The shopping system of claim 4 wherein the control circuit is further configured to identify a likely retrieval location for at least one of the purchased items.
 6. The shopping system of claim 4 further comprising an associate electronic device in communication with the control circuit and database, the associate electronic device configured to display the aisle location of the retail items.
 7. The shopping system of claim 6 wherein the associate electronic device is further configured to update the database including at least one of: adding a retail item into the database, adding an aisle location of one of the plurality of retail items, and updating at least one of the retail items or the aisle location associated therewith.
 8. The shopping system of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine a low shelf supply based upon receipt of a predetermined number of identical retrieval locations and send the associate electronic device a notification of low shelf supply.
 9. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the aisle markers are disposed at predetermined intervals along the shopping aisles.
 10. The shopping system of claim 9 wherein the control circuit is further configured to estimate a continuous cart path based on the aisle markers recorded by the image capturing device and an order of recordation.
 11. The shopping system of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is further configured to estimate a time spent at a specific location along the continuous cart path based on time lapse between recordation of the aisle markers or repeatedly capturing a particular aisle marker.
 12. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the image capturing device comprises a camera mounted to a handle of the shopping cart, the camera configured to record pictures or video images.
 13. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the recorded aisle markers are cleared from the image capturing device of the shopping cart after detection of the cart path by the control circuit.
 14. The shopping system of claim 1 wherein the image capturing device is configured to record shelf space and product placement on the shelf space during customer use.
 15. A method of locating and monitoring items within a retail location, the method comprising: maintaining a database of aisle locations associated with retail items located within the retail location; capturing, through an image detection device mounted in a shopping cart, pathway images of aisle markers disposed within at least several of a plurality of shopping aisles within the retail location; receiving the pathway images of the aisle markers from the shopping cart at a point of sale terminal; receiving a list of purchased retail items from the point of sale terminal and associating the list of purchased retail items with the pathway images; identifying a particular aisle location of one the purchased retail items by comparing the associated list of purchased retail items and pathway images with other customer pathways and purchased items associated therewith; and updating the database according to the particular aisle location of the purchased retail item identified by comparing the associated list of purchased retail items and pathway images with other customer pathways and purchases items associated therewith.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein updating the database comprises adding the particular aisle location as an additional aisle location or a primary aisle location if no other aisle location information is stored within the database.
 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising notifying an associate of a plurality of aisle locations for one of the retail items.
 18. The method of claim 15 further comprising extracting a retrieval location of at least one of the purchased items by analyzing the associated purchased retail items and pathway images.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising at least one of: determining a low shelf supply based on the extraction of identical retrieval locations a predetermined number of times in a predetermined amount of time; and removing a stored aisle location from the database if the stored aisle location is infrequently found in pathway images correlating to purchased retail items.
 20. The method of claim 15 further comprising estimating a continuous cart path based upon the aisle markers recorded by the image capturing device and the time lapse between recordation of the aisle markers or repeatedly capturing a particular aisle marker. 